Mississippi State announced this morning that Duncan McKenzie will serve as interim athletics director until the school hires a permanent replacement for Greg Byrne, who leaves in a week to take over the AD’s role at Arizona.

McKenzie has been at MSU 22 years and is currently the senior associate AD and chief financial officer.

“Duncan is a Bulldog through and through, having been a student-athlete at MSU as well as serving 22 years as an administrator in our athletic department,” school President Dr. Mark Keenum said in a news release. “I have the utmost confidence in his ability to provide continuity and manage the wide-ranging issues that must be addressed on a daily basis.”

MSU is expected to have an AD hired by the first of May, so McKenzie is in charge of day-to-day operations. For instance, he’ll represent MSU at an upcoming meeting of the SEC’s athletic directors in Phoenix. But McKenzie told me he’s got plenty of help.

“Greg is really neat, he empowered everybody to do their job,” McKenzie said. “If something, a big issue comes up, then I think I’d be the person that would get everybody together, and let’s discuss it. Take any issue to Dr. Keenum that needs to be discussed.”

In the release, Keenum said, “Duncan’s experience will be invaluable during this transition period. I appreciate his willingness to step into this role.”

McKenzie said he is not seeking the AD job full time.